


Come Little Children

by ETNMystic



Series: ETNtober [1]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Choose Your Own Adventure, Choose Your Own Ending, Gen, I have a lot of childhood trauma, Trauma, You've been warned, a witch's familiar, i don't care, so I like to write scary and dark shit, yes I know this is like hocus pocus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:42:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26826811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic
Summary: WARNING: This series contains very dark material. Read at your own discretion.DO NOT yell at me. I gave you a fair warning.Never go into the woods at night, even when you're with friends......Walking home after a long day at school, Matt, Rosanna, and Safiya come across a forest filled with legends of many. Soon a voice reaches their ears, luring the first two inside. Now Safiya must try to discern what's going on, and whether or not she can save Rosanna and Matt from a horrific fate.Includes two different endings!
Series: ETNtober [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956808
Comments: 10
Kudos: 8





	1. Come Little Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trio: Matpat, Rosanna, and Safiya.  
> Song: Come Little Children.

The Friday moonlight was beginning to flicker through the trees as three teenagers walked from school.

"Did we really have to stay so late?" Safiya groaned.  
"It wasn't _our_ fault all of that equipment busted during tech rehearsal."

Matt shrugged.

"Well, most of the crew was out sick, so it was the right thing to do."

"I know, but still--"

"It'll be okay," Rosanna smiled, skipping up closer.  
"Once we get back to my house, we can have some hot apple cider!"

Matt couldn't help but smile. Ro was ever the optimist, as always. She was the one who kept the group motivated that evening, and without her, Matt and Safiya would probably have been exhausted. Unfortunately, even with her encouragement, they weren't able to make the activity bus. They were in what was known as "Hell Week;" everything would be implemented, from tech to costumes, and they'd often have to do multiple run-thrus, usually to get tech placement just right.

They kept walking for a while before they stopped at an entrance to a woods.

"Why are we stopping here?" Ro asked.

"The bats usually gather here," Safiya shrugged.  
"I kinda like seeing them." 

And sure enough, a few bats were fluttering around, their wings breaking through the otherwise quiet breeze of late-October. 

"It's kind of beautiful, in a strange way," Matt said.  
"Especially when it's just the bats."

"Yeah, no kidding," Ro gasped.  
"I wonder if there are any baby bats."

They were transfixed by the bats for a while, the wings and the rustling of tree leaves being the only things tapping on their eardrums. The full moon was rising higher now, almost dancing in between the leaves. After a time, they decided that they should head back and turned to walk away, but out of nowhere, a soothing voice caressed their eardrums.

_Come little children,  
I'll take thee away  
Into a land of enchantment.  
Come little children,  
The time's come to play  
Here in my garden of magic.  
_

Hypnotic. Enchanting. Ethereal. Almost supernatural. There were quite a few words that could be used to describe what the three naive teens were hearing. 

"What was that?" Matt whispered.

"I have no clue," Ro gasped.  
"But....it's so beautiful."

While Ro and Matt were seemingly enchanted by this voice, Safiya was much more aware of the situation. She'd lived in this town the longest and knew better than to venture too close to these woods. Legends ranging from spirits luring in little children to witches living in a secluded cottage were passed around even in their class. Immediately she tugged on their jackets.

"Come on," she said, concern flittering in her voice.  
"We'd better go back."

"But....the voice," Ro gasped.

"Trust me, you do _not_ want to find out what it is."

Safiya's voice was quivering. If the two of them heard any more of it, it could seal their fates. It put her in a dilemma. If worse came to worst, she was told to run and not look back. But she knew that her heart would shatter if she were to run. And unfortunately for them, the voice cursed their ears once more.

_Come little children,  
I'll take thee away  
Into a land of enchantment.  
Come little children,  
The time's come to play  
Here in my garden of magic._

At that moment, Safiya felt her mind beginning to fog up and her heart began to race. To make matters worse, once she had managed to bring herself back to her senses, Ro and Matt were nowhere to be found. 

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" she cursed as her head began to beat.

Her palms were beginning to sweat profusely and her heart crashed against her chest, as if it was trying to break down the chest walls to get out. There was only one place she could think that they had gone, and against her better judgement, she rushed into the woods, the leaves shattering underneath her boots as the voice rode upon the wind once more.

_Follow sweet children,  
I'll show thee the way  
Through all the pain and the sorrows.  
Weep not poor children,  
For life is this way  
Murdering beauty and passions._

Safiya felt the fog swirl into her mind once again, causing her to stumble upon the dirt path. 

Sure enough, once she got a little ways into the woods, there were Matt and Ro slowly gliding, gliding, gliding ahead. 

"Guys!" she shouted, practically dashing for her best friends.

But neither of them seemed to be aware that she was even there. Instead they kept on gliding, gliding, gliding ahead.

"Guys, you have to listen to me!" she panicked as she stepped in front of them, only for them to simply walk around her.  
"You need to snap out of it! No one has any clue what's in these woods and if they did, they're probably rotting in a ditch or at the bottom of a pond in here."

She tried everything she could; pulling them back, yelling in their ears, pushing against them, even shaking them. But nothing was stopping Ro and Matt from gliding, gliding, gliding onward to wherever they were headed. 

_Where are we even going?_

But soon her question was answered. Up ahead was a rotting cobblestone cottage, and outside of the cottage was an old, but beautiful, woman with almost white hair. On her head was a pair of horns and she was dressed all in black. In her hand was something long and wooden. It looked to be a stick, but Safiya knew better. 

_She must be the one we heard._

And unfortunately this was confirmed, for as Ro and Matt neared the cottage, Safiya could faintly see the woman's mouth moving.

_Hush now dear children,  
it must be this way  
Too weary of life and deceptions.  
Rest now my children,  
For soon we'll away  
Into the calm and the quiet._

Safiya had to stop herself from venturing much further, despite her instincts. She waited until the two had entered the cottage with the woman. As quietly as she could, she crept towards the cottage and knelt down outside the window, bringing her ear close and occasionally peeking through the window. 

_"Hello sisters! I did it. Look at these brats."_

_"Debra, you are **far** too good at this."_

_"But they're not children."_

_"Teenagers are still technically children."_

_"Yes, but--"_

_"Sandra, that's enough. They're still children, and **that** is what matters most."_

_"Now come along, children. Right over here."_

Trembling, Safiya peeked in through the window, taking careful note to keep her head out of sight. The blonde woman was guiding them to a set of chairs.

_"Take a seat. We have a special treat planned."_

_"Is the potion ready, Sandra?"_

_"Funny enough, I had a strange feeling we'd get more than one, so I made a double batch."_

When this hit her ears, Safiya began to panic even more.

_A double batch? Of what potion?_

Another witch, this one with dark hair and horns, brought over two potion bottles and handed them to the white-haired woman, who Safiya assumed was Debra. She turned to the two entranced teens, sitting in the chairs, and handed them each a bottle.

_"Drink up, kiddies."_

Almost instinctively, the two friends downed the entire potion and Debra soon took the bottles away.

_"Good, good. How long does the potion take to work again?"_

_"We've been over this, Belle. It takes a few minutes before it activates. But once it does, we can completely drain them of their life force."_

"No!" Safiya gasped in fright.

Unfortunately that response turned out to be a bit too loud, and she knew it too. Quickly she dropped to the ground and attempted to crawl from the cottage. Maybe she could hide behind it until the sisters snuck out of the house to discover the noise, at which point she would be able to make a break inside, grab her friends, and get the hell out. 

Once she was around the corner, she bounded behind the house, pressing herself flat against the wall. Every muscle in her body went stiff. She didn't dare to even so much as breathe as she heard them walk out the door.

_"Hello? Who's there? Show yourself!"_

She kept like a statue, frozen solid until she heard one of them say

_"Damn it all to hell.....come along, sisters."_

She waited until the footsteps became quieter, practically out of earshot even, before she dashed back around, inside the house, and quietly shut the door. As quickly as she could, she placed a chair below the doorknob to keep them from getting back in before rushing over to her two entranced friends; their eyes were glossier than ever and they were completely still, almost like porcelain dolls.

"Guys, it's me, Safiya. Snap out of this. You're in terrible danger, and we need to leave right now."

But they didn't respond. 

"Guys, come on!" she quivered in fright.

Still nothing. At that moment, Safiya decided that it was useless to talk to them. She had to undo the potion before the sisters returned. In a moment of desperation, Safiya spotted a book on the shelf near a cauldron with a wooden spoon inside it, and practically hurled herself at it. Snatching it up, she found that it was a potion and spell book. She skimmed through it as fast as lightning, making several tears in the pages, but she didn't care. At that point, her only goal was survival for both her and her best friends.

"Aha!" she exclaimed.

There it was; a potion that could reverse the one the witches gave them, the saving grace. Safiya knew that she had to work fast. Who knew when that elixir would take effect? 

She slammed the book on the table and tracked the words with her finger. 

"One cup of fish eggs," she panted, rushing for the shelf of ingredients. 

Her heart was racing as she snatched up the jar of fish eggs. 

"Where's the cup? Where's the cup?!"

After a brief search, she decided that she didn't have time. She'd need two doses anyway, so she just dumped the contents straight into the cauldron. 

"One....bezoar stone?"

_Isn't that....isn't that what you find in a goat's stomach?_

Once again she was back at the ingredients' shelf. Safiya's body seemed to have gone right into autopilot mode, taking a brief look at the ingredients in the book, grabbing what she needed, and dumping the contents in the cauldron. Repeat until every single ingredient was mixed in, and ignore the fallen jars she'd accidentally swept off the shelf in her race against time. 

"Mix together until well-combined......You should soon see a white fog appear."

In a vigor, Safiya practically drilled into the cauldron with the wooden spoon, her heart racing at the speed of light. Her palms were sweating even more now, and so was her forehead. The sweat fell into her eyes, causing a searing, stinging sensation, but she pushed forward nonetheless. 

_I'd rather go blind than lose my best friends._

After about five minutes of almost choking the spoon, her hands began to tense up to the point where they became stiff as boards. Wincing Safiya had to bite her tongue so that she didn't cry out in pain. Unfortunately for her, her teeth began to dig into it, and soon enough blood came crawling from her tongue. She then moved onto her lips as she attempted to loosen her hands, but once again, more blood began to gush out. Safiya then had to simply grit her teeth, but that only caused her jaw to lock up. Her eyes began to water in agony, as she prayed that this would be over soon. 

But finally, after what felt like an eternity, a white fog emerged from the cauldron. Crying out in relief, Safiya had to utilize her mental energy to pry her fingers off of the spoon, which by this point had turned completely pale. Shaking her hands vigorously, she felt a tingling sensation as her fingers and hands gradually began to turn back to their original pigment. There was only one thing left to do. She lunged at the shelf with potion bottles and grabbed two of them before drowning them in the cauldron and then rushing them over to Matt and Ro.

"Guys, drink this, hurry!" she exclaimed.

But she forgot that they were too entranced to respond. With no other choice, she pried open each of their mouths and shoved the bottles into their mouths before tilting their heads up to make sure that they would swallow the potion. After they had swallowed the concoctions, Safiya kept a vigilant watch for any signs of recovery. A minute went by, then two, then three. It was at that point that she began to worry that her work was all for nothing. Then suddenly she saw the glossiness fade away from them both.

"H-Huh?"

Safiya heard the groan of the cute little muffin and audibly gasped in astonishment and relief. It took a few seconds, but both Ro and Matt soon came out of their stupors.

"What the---where are we?!" Ro asked.

With tears in her eyes, Safiya practically squeezed them like a python as she wept in joy and relief. 

"Oh my God! I was so scared that you were goners."

"What even happened?" Matt asked as he looked around, his vision still recovering. 

"You were lured here by a witch," she explained.  
"Her and her sisters tried to suck the life force out of you."

"But where are we now?" Ro wondered.  
"And---Why are you bleeding, Saf?!"

"We're in their cottage, and I'll explain later. C'mon, we don't have much time. We've gotta get the hell out of here."

Grabbing both of their hands, Safiya rushed for the door, kicked the chair away, and opened the door.

* * *

**Pick The Ending:**  
  
For "The Witches' Familiar," go to chapter 2.  
For "The Woman in the Window," go to chapter 3.


	2. The Witches' Familiar

Grabbing both of their hands, Safiya rushed for the door, kicked the chair away, and opened the door. But she came to a halt when she saw them; the sisters were standing in the doorway, and they were pissed. **  
**

"Well, well, well," the sister with red hair fumed.  
"Looks like we've got ourselves a _third._ "

In a panic, the trio began to back up.

"Wait," the black-haired witch gasped.  
"How-how did you get them out of their trances?!"

That was when their eyes darted to the cauldron and ingredient area. Rushing in, slamming shut, and locking the door, they saw the white fog, the page that Safiya had opened the book to, and the destroyed ingredients.

"You!" the red-haired witch violently pointed at Safiya.  
"You trashed our ingredients! You're going to pay for that!"

In a flash, the witches pulled out their wands and Safiya felt Matt and Ro's hands begin yanked out of hers.

"Leave them alone!" she snapped.  
"You can kill me if you want, but don't you dare hurt my friends!"

Safiya tried to dash for the sisters, but soon felt a force hit her in the chest before the back of her head collided against the stone wall. Agony rippled throughout her body as she tried to get away, but something kept pushing her back. It pushed on her chest cavity and throat which caused her to gasp and choke for even a semblance of a breath.

"We _were_ going to make their deaths nice and painless," the red-haired witch growled.  
"But since you ruined that for us, we're going to use the old-fashioned way."

All three sisters pointed their wands at the two teens and began to chant.

_From the pits of Hell to the Heavens above  
Let their lives be gone from their vessels  
And into our bodies they go.  
Drain them of every drop, and leave no trace.  
May their souls be damned to suffer Lucifer's wrath forevermore!_

All of a sudden, Ro and Matt were surrounded by a harsh red glow and they began to wince in pain as they dropped to the floor. Ro began to cry out in agony and Matt shouted, as if trying to tell them to stop. 

"Please, don't do this!" Safiya cried as she struggled against her captor.

Soon Ro felt a strange hot and cold sensation in her body. Looking down, she noticed that the veins in her arms were being brought up to the surface before turning a deep black. Matt felt as though his muscles were slowly and painfully turning into stone. At that moment, a white mist emerged from the two. The sisters leaned forward and took in every single particle. Ro felt a searing, tearing sensation inside of her. It was as though someone had dug into her body and was slowly pouring hot lava inside of her. Both of them began to turn completely white. That was when Ro let out a blood-curdling shriek, one that pierced and echoed in Safiya's eardrums, before she and Matt dropped to the floor and went completely still. 

Once the sisters had sucked up every trace of the mist, Safiya felt the pressing force suddenly move back. Gasping for air, she dropped to the floor.

"I'm young again!" the red-haired witch laughed in delight.  
"Oh, how beautiful!"

"We'll be able to seduce men so easily now!" the black-haired witch added menacingly.

Anger began to boil Safiya's blood, but she still felt too weak to respond, that is until the sisters were hovering above her.

"You goddamn hags!" she wheezed as her fiery fury burned into their eyes.  
"It doesn't matter how much life force you steal. You'll always be ugly as hell!"

Hearing this the sisters gasped.

"Did she just-?" the blonde-haired one cried out.

"She did!" the black-haired one added.  
"I think it's time we give her a taste of the same medicine!"

She pulled out her wand again, but the red-haired witch put out her arm to stop her.

"No," she stated.  
"We're not going to kill her. She'll be able to see those brats if she does."

"What are we going to do then?" the blonde-haired sister scoffed.

The red-haired witch's lips slowly curled into a smirk, one that formed a lump in Safiya's throat. Holding out her wand, the red-haired witch summoned her book. She skimmed through the pages, growling as she saw each tear Safiya had made before stopping at a page.

"Sisters, I've been thinking," she repeated.  
"I've always wanted a familiar of sorts. One that will stay with us forever."

"You mean-?" the blonde witch asked.

"Oh yes," she answered.  
"This little brat will never experience death. Instead she'll be forced to live on with the guilt she harbors."

With this, Safiya's brain shouted at her to run away, but her body was frozen to the spot in utter shock and horror as the witches pointed their wands at her.

_Take the vessel of this child  
And make it stay eternal.  
Coat it in the fur of midnight.  
Give her eyes a full moon's hue  
And may she never leave our side._

Safiya felt herself changing. Her hands and feet were becoming midnight-black paws, and she was becoming smaller. Her ears moved upwards and her eyes began to change shape. A tail emerged from behind her as black hairs began to appear and fold over her clothing. And soon it was done. 

"There we go," the red-haired witch grinned menacingly.  
"A rather fitting form for someone so feisty."

She tried to reach down to pick her up, but Safiya hissed and scratched at her. She pulled back and huffed.

"I think this little kitten is in need of some training."

She turned to her blonde-haired sister.

"Debra, you know what to do."

She nodded and began to sing softly. Safiya panicked and tried to make a break for the door, but the fog began to return and due to the proximity, it returned much more quickly. Even with her attempts to resist, Safiya felt herself becoming soothed by the melody. And before she knew it, she laid on the floor in a tranquil state. 

"That's better," the red-haired witch said.

She went over and picked up the sleeping cat before taking her to a nearby bed and laying her there.

"Rest up, kitty," she told her as she pet her back.  
"You've got a long day of training tomorrow, after all."

This settled into Safiya's subconscious, but it didn't occur to her, for as she settled into a lovely dream, all she could hear was the soothing melody that Debra had sang.

_Come little children,  
I'll take thee away  
Into a land of enchantment.  
Come little children,  
The time's come to play  
Here in my garden of shadows._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like you chose the bad ending.


	3. The Woman in the Window

Grabbing both of their hands, Safiya rushed for the door, kicked the chair away, and opened the door. Fortunately, the way was clear for them to dash out of the cottage. Despite the pain in Safiya's legs from running back and forth to grab the ingredients, the adrenaline and desire to get the hell out of these satanic woods fueled her and gave her a boost. **  
**

_"Hey! They're getting away!"_

It was the voice of one of the sisters. Safiya took a quick look back and saw that they dashing for them and they were gaining on them.

"Go, go, go, go!" she panted.

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Matt exclaimed.

"Little fast feet," Ro panted.  
"Little fast feet."

It felt as though they were running in a marathon for their lives. The entrance to the woods seemed to be moving further and further away, almost as if to taunt the trio. 

All of a sudden, a flash of lightning flew over their heads.

"What was that?" Safiya panicked.

Ro took a quick glance back to see the sisters, their wands out and glowing red on the end as they came closer and closer.

"They're trying to hex us!"

The trio picked up the pace big time, not even stopping to catch their breaths. Oxygen didn't matter, not when their lives were on the line. And that was when Matt had a horrific thought; he didn't feel any pain when he was in that trance, but now that they were on the run, and the witches were clearly pissed off, if they were caught, the consequences would likely be worse, even torturous. This thought made him grab onto Ro's hand and pick up the pace. 

Finally the entrance to the woods appear in their vision. Ro and Matt were charging like bulls in a bull-fighting match, and soon they were out. Safiya was closing in on the two, but just as she was about to lunge through the entrance, she felt a hand grab onto the back of black bat-wing shirt. 

"Guys?!" she yelled in a panic.

Immediately Matt and Ro jumped to her aid, grabbing onto both of her arms and pulling at her. It was now a tug of war, a literal war, one that both sides were desperate to win. Unfortunately it was a two against three match, and the witches were gaining. Safiya gradually felt herself being yanked back and dread shot into her stomach.

 _Is this it?_ she wondered in a panic.  
 _Am I gonna die?!_

All of a sudden, a loud horn blared, startling both sides. But since the witches weren't very accustomed to this sound, the shock caused them to drop their grasp and rush back in. The sudden release of their grip caused Safiya, Matt, and Ro to tumble backwards into the road where a car was heading for them. Immediately Ro got up and helped the two out of the way and back onto the sidewalk. 

"Goodnight, sir!" Safiya gasped as they got up before rushing far away from the woods.

* * *

The trio didn't stop until they were at Ro's house, where when they'd gotten inside, Ro slammed and locked the door. In complete and utter exhaustion, the trio practically fainted onto the couch in the living room, trying to catch their breaths.

"Oh my God," Safiya panted as her eyes began to water again.  
"Oh my God."

The trembling trio hugged each other close, completely traumatized by what had just happened. 

"I thought we were totally screwed," Matt gasped.

They took a few minutes to try to calm their nerves, despite the fact that there was no way they were gonna be able to calm their nerves after that kind of shit went down. 

"I don't care what my mom says," Ro told them.  
"If you both don't feel safe walking back to your houses, I'll gladly let you sleep over here tonight."

"Yeah, that'd be great," Matt answered.

"Oh, 100%," Safiya nodded.

After a few more moments of silence, Safiya began to laugh a bit. Matt and Ro were confused at first, even slightly offended.

"What's so funny?" Ro asked.

Safiya took a few deep breaths.

"I just realized," she said.  
"Out of all the times people have gone into those woods, not a single one has managed to come out of it alive. Guys, we defied the pattern."

That was when it hit Matt and he too started laughing.

"Oh my God, you're right. We beat the odds."

Finally Ro laughed a bit.

"That _was_ pretty badass of us."

"Totally," Safiya smiled.

"Not only do we have a story we can tell, though," Matt reminded them.  
"We also got one more thing."

"Trauma?" Ro asked.

"Bingo."

"Yay for trauma," Safiya cheered weakly and sarcastically.

After a few more minutes, the trio decided they were too tired for anything else, and so they went up to Rosanna's room, set up sleeping bags, and crashed there with her French bulldogs, Cookie, Blueberry, and Coconut. 

* * *

When they got back to school on Monday, the three of them found themselves distracted from their classes. The memories of the woods kept making their way back into their minds, and they knew that they needed to get help. Unfortunately they knew that no sane person would believe them if they said that they were lured into the woods by a witch with two of them almost having their life forces drained by her and her sisters. Instead they decided to tell their parents that they'd gotten mugged and kidnapped by a group of women that they couldn't remember the faces of. Of course they were all put into therapy as well as given medication to help with their panic attacks and anxiety. 

Out of the three teens, Safiya was the most visibly afraid, as she was the one who was the most aware of the whole thing. Before this whole incident, she could easily hide her fear, but now she was trembling and on high alert practically every second of every hour of every day and night. In fact her fear and anxiety had gotten so bad that she kept waking up in the middle of the night screaming from the memories and then couldn't get back to sleep. 

But the thing that scared her most of all was when she was looking out the open window in her living room one afternoon and saw an old woman on the sidewalk, staring into the window. She was dressed all in black, carried a stick in her hand, had blonde hair, and horns on her head. At that moment, Safiya began to feel the mind fog returning as she heard a familiar voice singing a familiar tune to her.

_Come little children,  
I'll take thee away  
Into a land of enchantment.  
Come little children,  
The time's come to play  
Here in my garden of shadows._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like you picked the......good? ending.


End file.
